August 5: St. Eugene of Aitolos is celebratedtranslated

We celebrate the Preliminaries of the Transfiguration today, August 5, and honor the memory of the Holy Hieromartyr Fabius (Favian) of Rome, Nonna, mother of Gregory the Theologian, and Saint Eugene of Aitolo (†1682).

By LAMBROS K. SKONTZOU, Theologian - Professor

Saint Eugene the Aetolos, the great teacher of Genus Many of the saints of our Church were in the dark years of the Turkish rule teachers of our Genus. One of them is Saint Eugene the Aetolos, a great spiritual and charismatic personality, who put his own stamp on the defense of Orthodoxy and the cause of education of our subjugated Orthodox Greek people.

He lived in the 17th century, at the time of the harshest slavery for the enslaved peoples of the Ottoman Empire. He was born in the village of Mega Dendros, near Thermo of Aetolia in 1597. In the famous village that was later born the other great man of Aetolia, Cosmas the Aetolian. He came from poor, but pious parents, Nikolaos and Stamos, surnamed Giannoulis. He was orphaned and his father remarried, but his stepmother abused him. Since he was young, he had two desires, the...